Saturday, May 24, 2008

Artists knit a tea-cosy for a New York Gas Station in the 2008 collaborative work- Oil War. International Fiber Collaborative, put together this amazing art work – a serious Store Front Window – and St. Louis, MO artist Keith A. Buchholz brought it to my attention. He says, "The panel just left of the telephone pole – to the left of the pink one – is mine - theres a close up of it in the album." (see below, right). The idea that artists can change the landscape of the global oil economy is not exactly new, but it is ever renewable (unlike the global energy policy of sucking out every last drop of oil from the earth). In 1000 years the very idea of a "gas" station will be as strange as folks paying for phone calls (well, some people still pay for phone calls now) with quarters. Oil is, in the end, a finite resource. And now, of course, a political tool that is used to crush people who have become dependent on the black stuff to get where they want to go. My grandfather built Sunoco stations in Brooklyn. He grew up riding a horse. It's a strange war we're fighting.

Sunday, May 18, 2008

Want a great song to drive to, yes, in spite of rising gas prices. Matthew Rose's I HAVE A CAR will do the trick. This version is performed by Hens Breet (MONOSPACE). Perhaps Hannah Montana will do a cover as well for Ford, Toyota, Mercedes or BMW. YouTube video coming soon.

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Here, (right) monks struggle in an attempt to wade out of Yangon (Photo: AFP/Matt Davis). Aerial shots show a coast that is completed flooded. Most of the news images are of supplies being offloaded from planes. It is surprising to see any images at all with the tight control the Myanmar military junta has on the country. Maybe such devastation will change the way the country talks to the world.